ON READING THE GOSPELS by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

“When reading the Gospel, do not seek pleasure, do not seek exalted states, and do not seek brilliant thoughts—seek to see the unadulterated, holy truth.

Do not be satisfied with a mere fruitless reading of the Gospel; strive to fulfill its commandments, and read it with your deeds. This is the book of life, and you have to read it with your life.

Do not think that there is no reason why the most sacred of books, the Four Gospels, begins with the Gospel of St. Matthew and ends with the Gospel of St. John. Matthew teaches more about how to fulfill God’s will, and his instructions are particularly appropriate for beginners on the path to God; John expounds upon the image of the union of God with man renewed by the commandments, which is something accessible only to those who are progressing along the divine path.

When opening the book of the Holy Gospel to read it, remember that it decides your fate. We will be judged according to it, and depending upon how we were here on Earth with regard to it, we will receive our lot either in eternal blessedness, or eternal punishment (cf. Jn. 12:48).

God revealed His will to a paltry speck of dust: man! In your hands is the book in which His great and all-holy will has been set forth. You can accept it, or you can reject the will of your Creator and Savior—it all depends upon what you yourself want. Your eternal life and eternal death are in your own hands—just think how careful and wise you must be. Do not trifle with your eternal fate!

Pray with a contrite spirit to the Lord, so that He would open your eyes to see the wonders hidden in His Law (cf. Ps. 118:18), which is the Gospel. Your eyes will be opened, and you will behold the wondrous healing of the soul from sin, which is wrought by God’s word. The very healing of bodily infirmities was merely proof of the healing of the soul—proof for fleshly people, for minds palsied by sensuality (cf. Lk. 5:24).

Read the Gospels with extreme reverence and attention. Do not consider anything in them to be of little importance or unworthy of full contemplation. Every iota of it radiates life. And to be negligible about life is death.

Read about the lepers, the paralyzed, the blind, the lame, and the demonically possessed whom the Lord healed; contemplate the fact that your soul, which bears many different forms of the wounds of sin and is held captive by the demons, is just like these sick people. Learn from the Gospel to have faith that the Lord Who healed them will also heal you, if you will diligently pray to Him for your healing.

Acquire a disposition of soul that enables you to receive healing. Those who are capable of receiving healing are those who recognize their sinfulness and resolve to abandon it (cf. Jn 9:39-41). For the proud righteous man, that is, the sinner, who does not see his sinfulness, the Savior is unnecessary and useless (cf. Matt. 9:13).

Vision of our sins, vision of the fallen state that the entire human race is in, is a special gift of God. Pray down this gift for yourself, and the Heavenly Doctor’s book—the Gospels—will be more comprehensible to you.”